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Thursday, November 5, 2009

Spoonfuls of Stories

TOF and I love to read together. I have crates of kids' books, mostly purchased at garage sales, to stimulate his little mind. Picture books, board books, books for the holidays. You name it, we probably have the book here on The Avenue.

Reading is one of the most valuable things you can do for your child (or grandchild), it gives the experience of different types of language, rhythms and sounds. Pre-school children who are exposed to plenty of language (books and conversation) tend to do better in school.

Over the past eight years, Cheerios has given away more than 40 million children’s books by distributing them free inside cereal boxes and has donated $3.2 million to First Book, their non-profit partner, which provides books to children from low-income families. The program is part of Cheerios’ ongoing commitment to helping parents provide their children with a healthy, nutritional and educational foundation.

Beginning this month, Cheerios is again bringing books to the breakfast table, by providing six million children’s books free inside Cheerios boxes. The books are for children ages 3 to 8 years old, and include a brand new book in the popular “Trucktown” series, available only inside Cheerios boxes. And for the first time, all five books have been specially printed in both English and Spanish.

This year’s book offerings from Cheerios – all by Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing – are:

Junkyard Fort, written by Jon Scieszka, and illustrated by David Shannon, Loren Long and Dave Gordon: Join Gabriella, Jack, Melvin, Ted, Lucy and the other Trucktown characters as they make their own fort, using things found in the junkyard. Ages 4-8.

Tea for Ruby, written by The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, and illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser: Wherever Ruby goes, a bit of disaster seems to follow. But one sunny morning, things change when the postman brings Ruby an amazing invitation: would she like to have tea with the Queen? Ruby needs to polish her manners, and quickly. Ages 4-8.

Sleepyhead, written by Karma Wilson and illustrated by John Segal: In this rhythmic bedtime story, a cat is the parent and a teddy bear is the child who doesn't want to go to bed. All ready for bed with teeth brushed and story read, Sleepyhead teddy tries anything to prolong his bedtime; books and his quilt provide ample fodder for his imagination. Ages 3-7.

Ballyhoo Bay, written by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Derek Anderson: Mira Bella, an artist who teaches painting and sculpture, loves Ballyhoo Bay and what it offers: sun, sea, sand, and sky. But one gray day a billboard arrives, announcing an impending development that would take all the fun out of the place. Read along to see if Mira Bella and her art can save the day and Ballyhoo Bay! Ages 4–8.

What’s Under the Bed?, written and illustrated by Joe Fenton: Young Fred cannot stop worrying about the scary creature that might be hiding beneath his bed. Finally summoning the courage to peer under his bed, Fred, with his cumbersome glasses, sees that the only thing there is Ted, his friendly Teddy Bear! Ages 3–7.

Thanks to MyBlogSpark and Cheerios, one of my readers will receive a Spoonfuls of Stories gift pack, which includes a set each of the five Spoonfuls of Stories books, a box of Cheerios, and a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble.

To enter please leave a comment telling me the title of one of your favorite kids' books, you must do this first. For extra entries: follow my blog, follow me on twitter, or tweet this contest. Leave a separate comment for each one.

I received the above mentioned prize package from Cheerios and MyBlogSpark for this blog post and no other monetary compensation.

We're like you, we have tons of books. And now that my son is learning to read, he's loving them even more. His favorite book is The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything. Leave it to my kid to like spooky books. LOL

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I'm a former Chicago area wife, mom of 2, stepmom of 2 and Mema to some of the cutest little boys ever who has recently been transplanted to Phoenix. We also have three weenie dogs, Bella, Gracy and Theo. Join me as I blog here about my crazy life on The Avenue. Please note that neither this blog nor I, have any affiliation with the actress, her estranged family, or the country of Germany, in case you're into anagrams. It is named after my 2 children and me, as their mom. PR is always welcome, please email me at megryansmom at sbcglobal dot net to see if we are a good fit.